I ordered two tea trays from Miroslava Randova and they arrived, incredibly packed, padded, and protected, a few weeks ago. I took them both outside today to get some photos, but while I think I captured the smaller round tray fairly well today, I still don't have a shot that does the larger one justice. First the smaller tray, meant for a desk in a shared office, which has to be small enough to fit in a locker on days when other people are using that space:

I was thinking about this today. Although it's just a humble piece, this jar, along with my electric kettle, is the most important teaware I own...

(Sorry for the lame cell phone pic.)

I use this old double happiness jar to condition the water I use for my tea sessions. My old apartment had bad pipes, so I used Poland Spring, but my new apartment's tap water is excellent! The jar holds about 3 gallons. By keeping the water in the jar for anywhere between 1-7 days, it get's lighter in body and just a tad sweeter, and makes fantastic tea. Also, any lingering chlorine from the tap evaporates off and the water tastes cleaner. In order to keep bacteria from growing, I keep some 99.9% pure silver wire at the bottom of the jar too. It's amazing how the silver eliminates the slight aquarium-like smell that would begin showing up after 5 days or so without it.

I might need to try that jar idea. The water in NYC is very good, though, but there are many old buildings. Our building has pretty good pipes, though tap will always have a slight chemical taste, even the best tap.

The thing is I refuse to buy bottled water! Or bottled much of anything it makes me worry about the environment. (but it's impossible to really live without making waste)

So I filter the water then let it sit with some bamboo charcoal. This is what I did even before the tea thing "got serious" --

I can't even lie, I'm pretty proud of myself for this one that I just came up with tonight...

Anyone who uses tiny Yixing pots has probably realized that it's harder to keep them hot, especially on longer infusions. The classic fix for this is to use a small tea boat and to surround the teapot in a pool of hot water. Of course, this works, but it never sat well with me for one reason- it messes with the pot's carefully cultivated patina, and sometimes leaves a ring around the pot. Not cool.

So, tonight I can say I feel like I've won the battle! I have this duan ni lotus root Yixing lid rest that I use on my table to, well... rest lids, as well as to set pots for long overnight infusions. Since the lid rest is hollow inside, and does not have a way for water to drain out, I realized I can fill it up to the top with boiling water, and it acts like a hot plate radiating heat up into my tiny pots! Better brewing, and my patina is safe! Here it is pictured with my favorite 40ml pot, wringing all the wonderful essence out of TIM's high fire TGY. Today is a good day.

tingjunkie wrote:I can't even lie, I'm pretty proud of myself for this one that I just came up with tonight...

Anyone who uses tiny Yixing pots has probably realized that it's harder to keep them hot, especially on longer infusions. The classic fix for this is to use a small tea boat and to surround the teapot in a pool of hot water. Of course, this works, but it never sat well with me for one reason- it messes with the pot's carefully cultivated patina, and sometimes leaves a ring around the pot. Not cool.

So, tonight I can say I feel like I've won the battle! I have this duan ni lotus root Yixing lid rest that I use on my table to, well... rest lids, as well as to set pots for long overnight infusions. Since the lid rest is hollow inside, and does not have a way for water to drain out, I realized I can fill it up to the top with boiling water, and it acts like a hot plate radiating heat up into my tiny pots! Better brewing, and my patina is safe! Here it is pictured with my favorite 40ml pot, wringing all the wonderful essence out of TIM's high fire TGY. Today is a good day.

Don't mean to hijack the thread but quick question! I also have the little 40ml bluey and I have the dreaded water ring from doing exactly that. Would buffing the pot with a tea towl fix this? Sorry if this has been asked elsewhere, I'm on phone and search function on tapatalk is pretty ordinary

I don't think the ring its that bad, some peeps use the boat and some use other stuff like a bamboo tray. Doesn't people in chao Zhou normally use just a bowl, so the ring would be very evident after a while

tingjunkie wrote:I can't even lie, I'm pretty proud of myself for this one that I just came up with tonight...

Anyone who uses tiny Yixing pots has probably realized that it's harder to keep them hot, especially on longer infusions. The classic fix for this is to use a small tea boat and to surround the teapot in a pool of hot water. Of course, this works, but it never sat well with me for one reason- it messes with the pot's carefully cultivated patina, and sometimes leaves a ring around the pot. Not cool.

So, tonight I can say I feel like I've won the battle! I have this duan ni lotus root Yixing lid rest that I use on my table to, well... rest lids, as well as to set pots for long overnight infusions. Since the lid rest is hollow inside, and does not have a way for water to drain out, I realized I can fill it up to the top with boiling water, and it acts like a hot plate radiating heat up into my tiny pots! Better brewing, and my patina is safe! Here it is pictured with my favorite 40ml pot, wringing all the wonderful essence out of TIM's high fire TGY. Today is a good day.

Don't mean to hijack the thread but quick question! I also have the little 40ml bluey and I have the dreaded water ring from doing exactly that. Would buffing the pot with a tea towl fix this? Sorry if this has been asked elsewhere, I'm on phone and search function on tapatalk is pretty ordinary

Cleaning and puffing the pot is one of the traditional direction of "growing" your pot.

Tingjunkies awesome idea has inspired me to do something similar. I just place the teapot on top of the kettle which has a nice little nook on the flat lid where it fits perfectly. Keeps the tiny kettle warm for a good long time.